


Restless

by microbellamy



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Han Dynasty, M/M, for xiaoyangweek2020 on twitter, han dynasty was the first dynasty to trade w the west (knowingly), i love asian history so i had to do this, i miss xiaoyang, im so lonely, lucas head guard, mention of lucas, think of the silk road hehe, this is for those who also miss xiaoyang, this is the most mild thing I have written in forever, xiaojun han warrior, xiaoyang han dynasty royalty au, xiaoyang royalty au, yangyang royal scribe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27537499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/microbellamy/pseuds/microbellamy
Summary: It was the summer equinox and the first royal merchant brigade was leaving tonight for the land beyond the mountains.
Relationships: Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun/Liu Yang Yang
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	Restless

**Author's Note:**

> hihi!!
> 
> i wrote this for xiaoyang week on twitter (@XIAOYANGWEEK) so i hope you can follow along there too with updates ;)  
> Hope you enjoy this little history lesson thrown in with our favorite boys hehe
> 
> i havent written in forever so excuse me if this isn't that good :/

Yangyang clutched his robe in his fists as he took quick strides down the corridor trying not to run in the royal palace. The sun was slowly setting off to his right, his shadow being casted onto the red and gold painted walls. It was the summer equinox and the first royal merchant brigade was leaving tonight for the land beyond the mountains.

“I’m going to kill him,” Yangyang muttered under his breath.

Reaching the communal meeting grounds just off of the north corner of the palace, Yangyang stopped before he stepped into the crowd. He straightened out his robes and put on his best “royal scribe” face as he looked around for Dejun.

The royal merchant mission was a big deal for the Han Dynasty. For decades the great nation has been receiving goods and luxurious items from the far West, trading their fine silk and porcelain for spices and their best metal work. Yangyang knows fully well about the history of China trading with the West and he’s worried.

“Yangyang, glad you could see the brigade off with us,” Yukhei, the royal palace’s personal lead guard spoke as he approached the young man from the edge of the gathering. “Have you changed your mind on joining them?”

“You know I was made for palace life not horseback.” He pursed his lips as he glared at Yukhei who chuckled at his comment. The two are friends, having known each other since Yangyang joined the royal court four years ago. Yukhei may have even saved his life once from an ambush on the palace but Yangyang would never admit it. “Have you seen Dejun?”

The tall guard in front of Yangyang raised an eyebrow as he smirked. It was no secret that Yangyang and Dejun were close, they spent a lot of their meditation time together as well as their time away from their duties. Although relationships weren’t looked down upon among royal personnel it was best to keep it a secret so others didn’t think it was interfering with work.

“He’s in the stable preparing the last of the luggage,” Yukhei responded, his face softening. “You know it upset him what you told him the other day.”

“I’m only trying to protect him.”

“And he’s trying to protect you.”

Yangyang took off again, following the edge of the palace grounds. The sky was blood red and the air was still sticky from this morning. He felt queasy as his mind raced with unsettling thoughts.

Yangyang had approved of this mission knowing that sending a merchant party with armed guards would help promote the name of China in the West but he knew it wouldn’t be very successful. The amount of times merchants haven’t returned home, or their remains were left at watch towers outside of their territories is soon catching up with the number of those who are lucky enough to return home. Trading comes with a big cost and he’s not sure if the royal guards can handle it.

The hill on which the palace sat overlooked the village, the horse shed facing the west and watching the sun set over the great city of Chang’an. Yangyang loved his job being able to be a scribe for the emperor and recording the great history of China. He would never give up his job, unless it was for Dejun.

Xiao Dejun: the soldier who is the only one to tame the horses of the lowlands. Who is able to hold the breaths of the court as he enters the royal courtyard with the hands of the nomadic tribe that tried to invade their Northern territory. A face chiseled from the very jade sitting beside the emperor, eyes as bright as his sword flashing in the light, and a smile that could have any lady falling to her knees. It was a surprise how the two men got along, up until now.

Yangyang noticed Dejun was tying up a paracle to the back of a horse as he stopped short of the entrance to the open air barn. The older man was dawned in his warrior armor, a glorious sight to behold. The tanned rawhide sat high upon his shoulders as the iron lamellar clanged together as he moved swiftly around the horse. His sword, handed down to him by his father, was tied around his waist and gave the impression that he was ready to defend his dynasty.

“Why are you here?” Yangyang had snapped out of his gaze and noticed Dejun had spoken to him. “Are you here to berate me even more.” His back was still turned towards the younger as he continued to straighten up the horse battalion.

“I came here to see you.”

“I’m busy,” Dejun growled, his tone dark as he whisked around quickly to stare at Yangyang. His eyes burned like that of a dragon, a stare so intense that it could turn the moon into a ball of fire. Though it wasn’t enough to make Yangyang cower away. “I don’t need to speak to you. I know exactly how you feel.”

“You think I would come here to argue with you again? Now what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t give a farewell to our dynasty’s best warrior,” Yangyang joked, smiling a bit as he made his way past the gate and towards Dejun. The older male still held the heartstopping gaze steady with Yangyang, his face void of any actual emotion other than hatred.

“Piss off.”

“Dejun…” Yangyang faltered. He now stood before the warrior. Decked completely in his armor, Dejun was about twice the size of the scribe and it was definitely intimidating as he looked up into his face. The both of them cared deeply about one another, but a conversation the other day took their relationship in the other direction. “I don’t care if you don’t want to listen to me ramble on about how I want you to stay here I just want…”

“Good because I’m leaving,” Dejun declared as he set his hand upon the hilt of his sword and turned around to walk away.

“You idiot, listen to me!” Yangyang yelled after his friend. Running to catch up with his big strides, he had managed to stand in front of Dejun and stop him from going any further. “I just… I just need to speak to you before you leave.”

“Move out of my way,” the warrior commanded, but the young man held his ground. Dejun’s eyes had grown more fierce as he looked down upon Yangyang. “You have nothing to say to me that will stop me from doing my service to our country. You can stay here and sit on your ass in the palace as much as you want. My destiny is to be a warrior not a little lap dog.”

“Will you shut up! I’m trying to say I love you!” Yangyang clasped his hand over his mouth before he could speak more. His friend had removed his hand from his sword as the look of pure disgust disappeared from his face and was replaced with a look of incoherence. Yangyang’s words hung in the thick muggy air, a reminder of their true feelings for each other.

The scribe standing before the warrior appeared small. In fact, Yangyang was a short yet tough young man, being able to take care of himself, but when it came to Dejun he wanted his friend to protect him just as he does his country. He felt that in Dejun’s presence he was just a person waiting to be taken care of. No matter how much respect Yangyang received from the members of the royal court he knew that none of them would actually care about him outside of the palace like Dejun does. It’s a relationship that is above anything else.

And yet Yangyang might have ruined it when he asked Dejun to not go on the trade mission a week ago. The thought of his friend being gone for months, alone in a land that no one has ever recorded before terrified Yangyang to his core. And of course being the worrisome person he was he brought his concerns to his friend who had took personal offense to his request. It wasn’t that Yangyang was being selfish and asking the warrior to stay in Chang’an so that he wasn’t lonely. He was sure that whatever lied past the western stretch was meant to stay unknown.

Now, Yangyang may have gone and dug himself a deeper grave as he waits for Dejun to process what he just bursted out; his true feelings spilling from his closely guarded heart.

“I can’t believe you, Liu Yangyang,” Dejun muttered, an almost devastating whisper that would have shattered the scribe's heart if he didn’t already see this coming. “You are one of the smartest members of the court and yet you think now, the night before I leave you forever, is a good time to tell me this?”

Yangyang wettened his lips as he prepared himself to speak again but from the valley fireworks erupted, a celebration of warding off the bad spirits that may follow the group on their journey. The pair had now settled into the night, the moon a perfect crescent in the sky as a lantern in the stall next to them illuminated a faint yellow circle around the pair.

“I never wanted you to hate me. I just wanted to warn you, to prepare you for what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Does it look like I need your help?”

“Why are you being so bitter towards me!”

“Because you think that I’m not able to take care of myself, that just because you may be the emperor's perfect court member that I don’t know what I’m prepared to do to better our country.”

“Will you stop acting like you are so willing to give up your life for a person who can’t even remember your name! The emperor doesn’t care who you are or what you’ve done for China!”

Yangyang felt the heat rise to his face in anger. Dejun didn’t appear to hold the same emotion, his vocal tone staying level as he continued to stare down at his friend. They never fight so Yangyang is really not understanding why the warrior is so hell bent on feeling like he’s offended by everything he has to say.

“Dejun, I care about you. That’s why I have come to you expressing my concerns, I’m not going to make you stay,” Yangyang spoke, having softened his voice as he straightened his back and set his shoulders. “You are your own person and I will never force you to do anything. Hell, I was worried you would actually draw your sword on me just now.”

The scribe tried to make his friend laugh as he chuckled aloud, letting it fall away as he noticed the warrior wasn’t joining in. He cleared his throat and broke his gaze with Dejun, telling him silently that he has given up on trying to talk to him. In an act of respect, Yangyang bowed towards the great soldier before standing up right and giving his friend one last smile.

“You make it so hard to love you, especially when you act like the kingdom would fall apart without you.” Dejun said, suddenly laughing boisterously as he slapped a hand on Yangyang’s shoulder, knocking him off balance a bit at the force. As Dejun continued to laugh Yangyang didn’t know what to do. He light-heartedly joined in before he noticed Dejun was staring at him with the most gorgeous look ever.

The light from the lantern caught a slight glimmer in his eyes as he peered down at Yangyang. The smile brimming on his face could slice through the scribe just as fast as the sword on Dejun’s hip. And the hair falling towards the front of his face out of the tight top knot on his head framed his beautifully tanned skin and perfectly sharp jawline. It was unfair that Xiao Dejun looked this handsome even as he broke Yangyang’s heart.

But somehow the look upon the warriors face spoke differently than his actions. Dejun reached out to settle a hand on the nape of Yangyang’s neck to lift his lips towards his own. Softly, Dejun kissed the younger upon his protruding bottom lip as Yangyang tried to make sense of what was going on. And just the same as Dejun, Yangyang’s actions seemed to not comply with his thoughts as he swooped in closer and wrapped an arm around the lacquered rawhide armor. The pair had held each other in their light embrace as their kiss deepened.

Dejun’s emotions, always so hard to read for Yangyang, could now be translated as he swirled his tongue just at the entrance of the soldier's mouth. And Yangyang’s fears seemed to have vanished as the strong yet comforting hold the warrior had around the younger’s body relaxed him, Dejun’s hand having come up to rest on Yangyang’s cheek. They let their actions speak louder than their unsettled words.

“You make no sense,” Yangyang spoke as they pulled away. Dejun chuckled at his words as he let his thumb stroke the soft skin stretched over the scribe's cheekbone. “You know if you just did this from the beginning I wouldn’t feel like a horrible person.”

“I have to humble you somehow.” They laughed once again, having let their worries slip away until they must resurface for tomorrow morning when Dejun leaves. “I promise I will return. I will come back for you.”

“I will be here waiting so patiently for you.”


End file.
